The explosive atmosphere vanished as the two spirits grasped Theo’s hands simultaneously. They each weighed over a hundred kilograms, so the strength of their grips wasn’t to be trifled with. It wasn’t at a level that could be endured.
Rather than flinching back, Theo alternated looking between the two spirits.
He asked carefully, “Please explain what happened. I can’t answer your request for help if I don’t know what it is about.”
Based on the way the mountain spirits were looking at Mitra,?it seemed to be something related to an earth spirit, but it was too complicated to guess. Why were the two boss spirits of the Baekun Mountains bowing their heads without hesitation? Maybe they were mistaken, or perhaps Mitra really did hold the key to resolving this incident.
The half human, half bear blinked and let go of Theo’s left hand. It seemed that White Bear had acted rudely because he wasn’t aware of the courtesies of the human world. “Hmm, sorry. My mind is rushing ahead because of the urgency. I haven’t even introduced myself yet. Please be lenient with me. I am White Bear, the head of the white forest.”
“I am Theodore Miller, here at Seol’s request. If the pronunciation is difficult, you may call me Tae-oh.”
As the two of them were exchanging greetings, the Tiger King kept holding Theo’s right hand and interrupted, “Tae-oh as in laziness? It might mean something different, but that name isn’t quite right for you. I like Tao-oh, as in greatest crow.” 𝒷𝒹ℴ𝓿𝓁.𝓬𝓸𝓂
“Well, I don’t hate crows.” Theo nodded with a smile.
The inhabitants of the East often treated crows as a bad omen. However, in the West, especially for magicians, crows were synonymous with wisdom. An ancient god was said to have two crows that sat on his shoulders and watched the world, while Theo had also contracted with a crow called Hugin.
Four people—two people and two beasts, to be exact—started to move further into the valley to see one of the two sacred trees, the one that belonged to the Tiger King.
The Tiger King asked, “Male—no, Tae-oh. You formed a contract with the mountain deity?”
The White Bear interrupted, “Earth deity, Tiger King.”
She waved a hand irritably. “Shut up, Bear. Anyway, is that right?”
Theo ignored the squabbling spirits and patted Mitra, who was on his shoulder. Then he asked both spirits, “Right, why do you think she’s an earth deity and not a mountain deity?”
“I met one a long time ago. It’s slightly different, but I will never forget that strange presence,” the Tiger King answered casually as she met his eyes. She was taller than Theo, so her eyes naturally looked down at him. Perhaps she was looking at the top of Mitra’s head?
However, she didn’t dare stretch out her hand and spoke with a little bit of awe, “It’s been more than five thousand years, but he was the one who brought the sacred trees to the Baekun Mountains. He was the one who made me a cunning spirit when I was just a beast.”
“The same for me,” White Bear added.
A curiously human expression of nostalgia appeared on the two spirits’ faces. The Tiger King and the White Bear hadn’t been spirits from the beginning. They had been born as beasts and had succeeded in becoming spirits after accumulating a lot of karma.
The odds of that happening was one in a thousand—no, maybe one in a million.
The Baekun Mountains was a special area, but it didn’t drastically affect the animals in the area. The energy of the Baekun Mountains was not the only reason animals had a better chance of becoming spirits.
“There are two sacred trees left now, so they are indispensable to our lives,” White Bear said quietly as he took a step forward. “The dragon vein is concentrated near the sacred trees, maximizing our vitality. Rare plants grow like weeds, and the children who consume them daily will become spirits within a decade. But the sacred tree is growing sicker. The children who have yet to grow into spirits will return to being beasts.”
Theo asked, “Isn’t one tree enough?”
White Bear shook his head. “It isn’t enough.”
It explained why Tiger King and White Bear were arguing. They were trying to do the best they could for the spirits they led. Despite the arguing, the relationship between them wasn’t bad. The balance was maintained because the free-spirited Tiger King and mature White Bear were total opposites.
They soon arrived in front of the sacred tree.
“Ohh…” Despite Lee Seol having seen it a few times in the past, she couldn’t help letting out a sound of admiration along with Theo. They couldn’t even see the tree’s crown. It was a little over a hundred meters tall, and even though it couldn’t be compared to the world tree of Elvenheim, it had grown beautifully from just a dragon vein.
But there is definitely something going on. The edges of the leaves are faded. Despite the dense mana… the movements are surprisingly inactive.
Theo diagnosed the tree’s condition with one glance and was troubled. How could he improve this with Mitra’s power?
Theo had never done anything like this before. An animal could be healed. He could cut off the sick stem of a plant. However, he wasn’t sure how to revitalize a tree. The hopeful eyes of the two spirits weighed heavily on his conscience.
Tiger King asked, “How is it? Can you do it?”
White Bear followed up. “Tell me to do anything. I will follow your words.”
Theo sighed and took a small step forward. “Is it okay if I touch the sacred tree for a moment? This is the first time I’ve encountered a situation like this.”
Tiger King and White Bear nodded easily. The sacred tree would die if they left it alone anyway. They could certainly tolerate someone touching it for a moment. They had a deep sense of confidence in Mitra.
“… Then here goes.” Theo reached out with both hands and gently laid them on the rough surface of the tree. It looked reasonable, but it had no meaning so far.
Mitra.
[Yes! I will do as you ask!]
Mitra’s bud began to glow a bright green. After ingesting the seed of the world tree, she had manifested the ability to form a connection with plants. Theo had been using it as a type of clairvoyance, but as Mitra grew, he realized that he had been mistaken. Clairvoyance only borrowed their perception. It could do so much more than that.
Shortly after that, Theo’s consciousness was pulled somewhere else.
***
“Heok!” Theo suddenly stepped back and opened his eyes.
How much time had passed by?
Lee Seol jumped. “Theo! What is going on?”
“… Seol.” Theo took in a few deep breaths as he recalled what he had seen.
Had it happened because humans and plants were that different?
It had only been a few seconds of contact, but Theo hadn’t been able to keep up with the enormous amount of information and he had been knocked out. His brain might have fried if Mitra hadn’t acted as the bridge and buffer. He reflected for a moment and neatly arranged the information he had received from the world tree.
A huge whirlpool… and the branch that stretches from the center of probably the flow of the Baekun Mountain’s dragon vein.
The images, which were engraved in his mind, were vivid. It was as if the power, the source of the mana here, was swirling all over the Baekun Mountains. The largest flow was divided into two streams.
One stream flowed to the west forest where White Bear stayed, while the other one flowed to this sacred tree. There were traces of other branches apart from these two, but it was so long ago that the power must’ve been exhausted or dried up.
However, that wasn’t the only thing the sacred tree wanted to share. Theo contemplated the cause of the problem that had flowed into him. If he hadn’t been intelligent enough, Theo’s brain would have overheated. After all, the mentality of a plant was radically different from a human’s.
“I would like to say something first,” Theo mastered himself and spoke to the two spirits, “The sacred tree’s life isn’t over yet.”
Tiger King’s eyes widened. “… What?”
White Bear yelped, “What?!”
Oddly enough, these reactions were the opposite of their usual temperament. He had truly shocked them.
Theo glanced down at Mitra clinging to his neck like a cicada, and took a deep breath as he explained, “The sacred tree originally wasn’t a tree that could grow to this size. It happened because the dragon vein had fed it. In that case, what happens if the dragon vein doesn’t feed it as much energy?”
White Bear murmured, “… It will gradually weaken.”
Theo nodded. “That’s right. That is the primary problem.”
The flow from the dragon vein had decreased, weakening the sacred tree. If that was the only problem, Theo wouldn’t be so serious. As time went by, the dragon vein would lose some power, but it was still at a level which the Baekun Mountains could bear. The Baekun Mountains could still flourish for the next few centuries.
However, something was hindering that flow. White Bear’s stream hadn’t been affected, but the flow going toward Tiger King’s sacred tree had been cut off somewhere.
Tiger King asked, “If we can restore that broken area of the dragon vein, will the sacred tree revive again?”
“Yes, that’s correct.”
It seemed like a simple solution, but they realized that wasn’t the case as they looked at Theo.
A stream of the dragon vein wouldn’t be cut off by natural causes like a lightning strike. At minimum, a massive earthquake or volcano eruption was required for it to be disrupted by nature. If such a natural phenomenon had occurred, both Tiger King and White Bear might’ve guessed the cause of the problem.
In other words, that wasn’t the case.
“… It means that someone has broken this branch of the dragon vein,” White Bear murmured.
Theo nodded. “I was following the stream back to the dragon vein through the connection with the sacred tree. I thought I could find out when the flow was broken.”
Tiger King asked, “Did you see it?”
White Bear frowned. “Is it bad? Your consciousness was cut off like someone interrupted it.”
Sometimes, a mental impact could be greater than physical damage. Theo had already trained his mind to the extreme, so where most people would’ve fainted, he had avoided any injuries.
A person who could interfere with a master… meant that the enemy was a master. Theo guessed the opponent’s ability with that one contact and was immediately convinced.
When converting to magician rankings, the opponent is at least a 7th circle shaman.
The magic he had learned from Seimei definitely involved feng shui. This meant the opponent had to be a great shaman who could control the rise and fall of mana, and even affect the flow of the dragon vein. A shaman who could do such things certainly wouldn’t be an easy opponent.
Aside from Seimei, whom Theo had met with Gluttony’s power, Theo had never encountered a great shaman! Yet, he now had to deal with a strong one.
“Seol.”
“Ah, yes! Theo!”
Having a non-combatant with him was a fatal weakness. Lee Seol was outstanding, but she was still young and hadn’t reached the level of a master. It would take decades for her to participate in a master level fight. Therefore, Theo calmly decided what to do with her.
“Go back now. It is likely that something will occur that you can’t intervene in.”
It came earlier than he had thought it would be, but it was now time to say goodbye to Lee Seol.